Growing Onions by Byron Chitwood
Onions are one of the world’s universal food crops. They are grown in over 170 countries. Approximately 80 million tons are produced annually compared to about 400 million tons of potatoes. There are almost an infinite variety of onions throughout the world varying from region to region or even village to village. Here in the U.S. there are a number of varieties but most home gardeners usually have a selection of several varieties each of yellow, red or white.
One of the more popular varieties is the Texas 1015. It is a yellow variety although it looks browner to me. This particular onion was developed at Texas A&M and is noted for having a very mild flavor. Onions sets in our zone should be planted 4-10 weeks before FFD (final frost date). If seeds are to be planted, use 6-8 weeks before FFD. Most home gardeners prefer to buy of onion sets that are tied in bunches of about 100 sets for planting. These sets usually become available in our area shortly after the first of the New Year.
Onions thrive best in loose, well drained soil that has maximum sun exposure. This is true of most vegetables. If your garden retains a lot of water after a rain, raised beds are the solution to the well drained side of the occasion. With this in mind, build up your soil to a height of 2-4 inches above the surrounding area in a bed that is about 4 feet wide at the crest. Use a triangle hoe to dig ditches that are about 1 ½ inches deep in the raised bed. The first trench should be six inches from the edge of the four foot crest. Plant the sets in the 1 ½ inch deep every 2-3 inches. Then move over 12 inches and plant another row. Repeat the same process every 12 inches and you should end up with 5 rows of onions. Fertilize very lightly with a 3:1:2 ratio of slow release fertilizer and fertilize as need throughout the growing season.
When the onions get about ½ inch in diameter, pull every other one as needed for table fare or for cooking purposes. Bulbing of the onions will begin to occur when there is approximately 12-13 hours of sunlight. Keep utilizing ever other onion in the rows throughout the growing season until the onion plants are 6-8 inches apart. This will give the remaining plants room to grow and mature.
About midsummer, the bulbs will reach full maturity and the tops will begin to fall over. At this point, harvest the onions and place them in a dry place to harden up. Onions don’t have a very long shelf life, about 2-4 month at the most, so use them for cooking, salads and eating before they begin to mold and spoil.
Winter onions can be planted form seeds or sets if available if they put in the ground 8-10 weeks before the average autumn freeze date. Just follow the above directions for spring planting with the exception that the seeds should be planted no deeper than ½ inch.
To freshen one’s mouth after eating raw onions or garlic, munch on some sweet basil leaves. My grandmother made a cold medicine for us kids from boiled onion juice, sugar and whiskey. It didn’t do much for the cold but we really didn’t care after drinking a tablespoon of the elixir.